GALDANA || the mandalorian

PART ONE

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The Mandalorian basked in silence.

The best silence was the earthy, heavy silence, the kind where the Mandalorian knew it was only him and a blanket of stars; only him and thousands of planets shining at him in greeting.

The breed he despised the most was the thin, airy silence with words unspoken, not knowing what to say next but knowing something needed to come out of someone's mouth at some point. It was annoying. And all together unnecessary.

But now that the child accompanied him, the soft coos and whines prevented him from enjoying the silence from the moment he acquired the creature.

The Mandalorian looked up as something clattered in the hallway of his ship.

He drew his blaster. Nothing clattered in his ship, unless something, or someone, had knocked it over. He softly demanded the child to stay in its seat before switching the ship to autopilot, the journey to Sorgan continuing. His steps were measured, quiet, creeping closer and closer towards where he assumed the sound was.

Jerking his gun behind a crate, he nudged a back covered in fabric.

The figure yelped and subsequently grabbed the top of his gun, eyes growing wide in surprise, though still bleary after being asleep.

It was a girl.

Her hair was the first thing he noticed. It reminded him of the fallow-salmon he caught once on Saikara when he was camped out during a hunt. It matched her lips almost perfectly and was fishtailed into a long coil, beads adorned within the plait.

The second thing he noticed were her clothes. They weren't particularly beat up, just crusts of mud around the edges and on her knees where she must have kneeled down at one point. The sleeves of her jacket were sewn with countless buttons and small shells, each one unique.

The third her scars. Three on the right side of her face and an X through her right brow. He could see another along the side of her neck.

The final thing was her eyes. Bright, almost unearthly greens mixing within her iris.

Beautiful eyes. That were currently staring directly at him.

"Who are you." It wasn't a question, it was was demand. The girl shivered at his voice, shifting so she was facing him from her spot on the ground.

"Sorry!" She yelped quickly, stumbling to her feet. She flinched at the blaster pointed her way, but he made no attempt to lower it.

"I mean you no harm! I-" she paused, recollecting herself as she remembered what happened. "I didn't know this ship was occupied, it was on the outskirts and usually only destroyed ships stay there..."

"What are you doing here." Again, not a question.

"I had come in here because the temperature dropped, and I guess I accidently fell asleep? I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to cause you any distress," she laughs awkwardly, "not that you're in any distress, the most I can feel from you currently is annoyance."

The Mandalorian tilted his head.

"You're a Mandalorian? I've never met one before. Do you normally keep your blaster aimed at someone until they decide to kill themselves to spare you the trouble?"

His voice was still mechanical, cold and hard as steel.

"Only when I do not know who they are."

Her eyebrows shot up. The X on her brow crinkled with her forehead.

"Oh, sorry, I'm Fwega. Galdana. Not that last names mean anything anyhow..." she trailed off, "shouldn't have told you that. Oh, now you're amused, are you?" Her hands found her hips and she looked at him defiantly. "Am I going to get out from between these boxes anytime soon?"